2. Introduction
2.1 Overview
The Voyage Data Recorder (as required by Chapter V of the International Convention for Safety
of Life at Sea (SOLAS taking into account the IMO resolutions), records the outputs from sensors
(connected external equipment of which the outputs need to be recorded) and ultimately passes
the data to three physically separated Final Recoding Media (fixed, float-free and long-term) so
that the data can be recovered and played back.
The purpose of the VDR system is to record (on multiple storage media) the data originating from
various types of sensors. This may be digital, analogue, serial, audio or video information directly
originating from ship’s equipment with an Ethernet output compliant to the IEC61162-450 LWE
standard, (and for radar IEC 62388:2007) or originating from similar sensor equipment with the
use of an intermediate interface as part of the VDR system.
The VDR’s Core Module receives and processes any item of information received from the
sensors (directly or via an interface) and distributes that data, which is monitored for integrity and
compressed, to all Final Recording Media consisting of the Fixed Recording Medium, the Float-
Free Recording Medium, and the Long Term Recording Medium.
Where Units are described in this manual, data transfer between the Core Module (CM) and these
unit is IEC61162-450
(LWE: Lightweight ethernet) compliant where practical. The same standard
serves to interface to any other compliant equipment beyond the domain of the VDR itself.
Where external (to the VDR) sensors do not provide data in the IEC 61162-450 or IEC62238
(radar Ethernet) format, interfaces are required and available as an integral part of the VDR.
A very basic example may be a GPS with a serial IEC61162 (NMEA) output which requires a
conversion to the IEC61162-450 (LWE standard) before it is sent onto the VDR network.
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